For the past few decades, the United
States has engaged in activity with Israel that is in no way helpful to its
overall interests as a state. It has done a great deal of harm to the United
States, especially concerning the United States’ relationships with other Arab
countries in the region. Furthermore, the United States has gained little from
it in return. From a Realist point of view, the actions of the United States
would seem to be indefensibly dimwitted and imprudent toward gaining and
maintaining their power. Something else is going on below the surface. And that
would be Israel’s ever large, cash endowed, hugely influential lobby within the
United States.
It appears to be a clear cut case of penetration in which Israel
is indirectly manipulating the political system of the United States. For one,
the senior officials of the past few administrations have been made up of
people who are staunchly pro-Israel. The officials that the Obama, Clinton, and
Bush Administrations’ policy makers and advisors on Israel have included
numerous, Israeli citizens, people who have formerly been at the head of some
of the biggest pro-Israel lobbying groups in the US, and a plethora of
outspoken pro-Israel backers. Furthermore, there are “Jewish senators and
congressmen who work to ensure that US foreign policy supports Israel’s
interests” (Mearsheimer). Then, there is the pro-Israel lobby. The pro-Israel
lobby is made up of an enormous number of groups, but none more visible and
powerful than AIPAC. This group has consistently been ranked at the top of the
most powerful lobbying groups in America. Using their huge amount of influence
and money they have been successful in ruining congressmen’s reelection
campaigns, keeping the current crop of House and Senate members wary of
crossing paths with them. This has gotten some to say that AIPAC is “a de facto
agent for a foreign government” and that it “has a stranglehold on Congress” (Mearsheimer).
Additionally, the pro-Israel lobby is able to use propaganda, spending huge
amounts of money at universities to bring pro-Israel speakers and keep the
current crop of University students pro-Israel.
Unsurprisingly,
all of this influence has produced results. Each year since 1976, Israel has
received more economic and military aid from the United States than any other
country in the world. Diplomatically, the United States has functioned as
Israel’s personal campaigner, advocating almost exactly what Israel wants
whenever peace deals and treaties are in the works. For example, at the Camp
David Summit in 2000, the United States was the puppet of Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, leading Palestinian negotiators to complain that they were
“negotiating with two Israeli teams – one displaying an Israeli flag, and one
an American flag”. A strong case can even be made that the United States
entered Iraq to keep Israel safe, something that would not have been done if it
wasn’t for the pro-Israel lobby’s great influence on the United States.
For
all that the United States is doing for Israel, it is reasonable to believe
that the United States receives some great benefit. After all, realists believe
the largest responsibility of a state’s leaders is to maintain and increase the
power of the state, and a state’s paramount goal is security. At the very
least, the United States relationship with Israel should be doing these two
things. However, one does not need to look very hard to see that this is flatly
untrue. In fact, the opposite is true.
By maintaining such a close
relationship with Israel, the United States is only hurting itself. Arab states
in general are not supporters of Israel and consider its right to exist as
questionable at best. Therefore, by supporting Israel, the relationship between
the United States and Arab states in the region only deteriorates. Furthermore,
the United States becomes less safe because it invites the wrath of extremist
groups and terrorist organizations. America’s support for Israel is one of the
terrorists’ justifications for attacking the United States on 9/11. America’s
power is also not being increased by supporting Israel. It would be one thing
if America had a reliable ally in the Middle East that listened to what it
wanted them to do and provided military support in the region. Unfortunately,
this has not been the case.
Israel at times hardly acts like
America’s ally at all. They consistently ignore America’s requests, which continue
until the present day. President Obama is the most recent person to ask Israel
to stop settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to which Israeli Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ignored. The State Department has revealed that
Israel has released “a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorized
transfers” to countries like China, and just in 2004 an American diplomat gave
classified information to an Israeli diplomat. Israel spies on the United
States more than any other ally. The United States has not even been able to
rely on Israel for military support. They consistently must send their own
forces into the region when they need to get things done, and Israel even
proved a liability in the First Gulf War. This is not the kind of behavior that
one state has toward their allies, especially not their biggest advocate.
Realists would believe that the United States would only pursue their close
relationship with Israel and heap money and support upon it if it was clearly
in their interest, but this in no way seems to be the case.
The reason that
the actions of the United States do not seem to be supported by Realists is
that Realists are much too narrow-minded in their view of the world. They
believe that states are the only entities within International Relations that
have any importance. While they are correct in saying that if a state falls it
will likely fall because of another state, they are naïve to assume that
everything that is not a state can be safely ignored. By ignoring non-state
actors, it would be impossible to explain the United States actions toward Israel.
Its behavior would seem to serve little purpose and its cause would remain
mysterious. The fact that the pro-Israel lobby has an enormous influence on the
politics and public thinking of the United States would go unnoticed, and
social scientists would be all the more blind.
For the future,
it does not appear like the United States’ actions will change much. There is
no reason to believe that the influence of AIPAC and similar organizations will
decrease, and their strangle hold on American politics is as strong as ever.
Even if Mitt Romney is elected President in the fall, he has promised only to
be an even greater friend to Israel. This is not what is needed if the United
States is to become a more powerful and safe state. Open discussions about America's relationship with Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict need to take place in an environment where one critical comment directed toward
Israel can’t potentially end a politician’s career. However, for the
foreseeable future, it appears that the status quo will remain unchanged and Israel
will reap the benefits of a close relationship with the United States.
Work Cited
Mearsheimer, John; Walt,
Stephen. “The Israel Lobby.” www.lrn.co.uk. 23
March 2006. <http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby>
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